Alex placed the last rune beside the blood rising from the broken street.
It shone between two pale strands, close enough to Thepes that each beat of the artificial Progenitor's heart shook its edge.
Mingyue held her swords above and below the short stretch of space they had chosen. Purple frost formed along the blades, then spread toward the places Alex had marked.
The blood slowed inside that space.
It continued moving on either side, feeding from the remains beneath the city into Thepes's body. The pale connection coming out of his arm remained beside it, pulling toward the light woman and the web over the warehouses.
Alex could finally see a clear gap between them. The visible streams from the breach joined before entering the marked length. Cutting it would stop that supply, but he would still have to keep Thepes from reaching another body afterward.
"Vesa."
"The street is clear. Dorian has his people behind the next line."
Alex looked down once.
